How To Clean a Waffle Iron

Is your waffle iron beyond dirty, and you don’t know how to clean it properly? It’s way easier than you think! Just follow these easy steps and learn how to clean a waffle iron. Yours will look like new in now time!

For years, I had a waffle iron hiding in the back of a drawer, and even though I love making waffles I barely ever took it out. The reason?

It was so dirty.

I never really cleaned my waffle iron. Don’t judge. I just didn’t know how to clean that built up grease from it!

But then I decided a dirty waffle maker is not worth giving up waffles for. So I went on a quest to figure out the best and easiest way to clean it.

By the look of my waffle iron right now, I must have found it – it’s all clean and sparkly! And I’m going to share all my tricks with you today.

How To Clean a Waffle Iron – the Easy Way!

First, you’re going to need your supplies:

A damp cloth

Paper towels

A spoon with a skinny handle OR a chopstick

Vinegar (white wine or apple cider are best)

Q-tips

I know it sounds like a lot of things you need to clean a pesky little waffle iron – but those waffle plates have a tricky shape. So don’t shy away – it doesn’t take long to actually clean the waffle maker. And it’s worth it!

Before you begin, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR WAFFLE IRON HAS COMPLETELY COOLED DOWN.

Sorry for virtually shouting. Safety first! Do not clean a hot waffle iron!

Step 1: Get the worst off the waffle plates

It may seem intuitive to wipe down the outside first, but you’ll probably get that dirty again while cleaning the inside. So, always start with cleaning the waffle plates.

First, I like to take a dry paper towel and generally wipe over the waffle plates. It can also help to invert the waffle maker and gently tapping on the back to loosen any large crumbs.

Step 2: Clean around the creases

Chances are, there will be some dried batter stuck around the actual creases where the waffle batter goes.

Take a paper towel and drizzle it with vinegar. Wipe down all the areas around the waffle creases until clean.

Step 3: Clean away larger bits of grease form the creases

Next, you’re going to give those plates a little more thorough clean in the creases.

Fold a paper towel around the handle of a spoon or a chopstick and generously drizzle it with vinegar.

Gently move the wrapped spoon/chopstick along the creases of the waffle plates and get out as much grease and dried batter as you can.

Be careful and don’t push too hard. Else you might scratch the surface of the plates!

Step 3: Fine tune

Now it’s time to get the last bits of grease out of the corners. Soak q-tips in vinegar and clean the creases until they’re clean.

Wipe with dry q-tips to get out the last crumbs.

You can also use vinegar soaked q-tips on any leftover grease you find on the inside of your waffle maker.

When you’re done with the inside, give it a final wipe with a dry paper towel.

Step 4: Outside

All that’s left to do now is wiping down the outside of the waffle maker.

I like doing this with a damp cloth because it helps to both remove dried batter and small crumbs from small creases.